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Leverage
Leverage is a U.S. television drama series. It premiered on TNT on December 7, 2008. The series was created by John Rogers and Chris Downey, and is produced by Dean Devlin for Electric Television. Leverage follows a five-person team of cons, headed up by former insurance investigator Nathan Ford. Doing business as Leverage Consulting & Associates, the team uses its skills to right corporate and governmental injustices inflicted on ordinary citizens. Premise The action follows former insurance investigator Nate Ford and a small team of cons, who are hired to recover a set of stolen aviation plans for aerospace executive Victor Dubenich. When the team, made up of Parker, an expert thief, Alec Hardison, a computer hacker and Eliot Spencer, a so-called retrievals specialist discover it's they who have been conned into stealing the plans for Dubenich, they recruit international grifter Sophie Devereaux and stage an elaborate con to recover the plans and discredit Dubenich, with Ford as their mastermind. The con results in a life-altering payout for each member of the team, and the discovery that each develops a taste for using their skills to do good. With Ford as their reluctant leader, they set up business as Leverage Consulting and Associates in Los Angeles. Characters * Nathan (Nate) Ford (Timothy Hutton): Know as the team's mastermind, Nate is a former insurance investigator for I.Y.S. insurance who at one time chased each member of the team. Nate is initially a reluctant leader, and is plagued by the demons from his past. Divorced from art expert Maggie Collins, he carried a long-time grudge against Ian Blackpoole, CEO of I.Y.S., who denied payment for a controversial treatment that would have saved the life of Nate and Maggie's young son Sam. Angry and bitter, Nate's begins drinking heavily, leading to his divorce and departure from I.Y.S. When Nate the opportunity to lead a team of cons on a mission to retrieve stolen blueprints leads to the financial score of a lifetime, he finds himself using the his skills to help ordinary people who fall victim to corporate greed and wrong-doing. * Sophie Devereaux (Gina Bellman): A grifter with a gift for characters and accents, Sophie has a long, complicated history with Nate. Sophie is a would-be actress with no talent for the stage, but a gift for playing characters on cons, which if often her role. She can transform herself on the fly, sometimes playing multiple characters in the same con. Sophie has been known by many aliases, including her current name, although other than Nate, only the members of the team know her real name. Sophie feels a strong attraction to Nate, but is frustrated by his drinking and emotional distance, leading her to attempt to manipulate him into admitting his feelings for her. Over time, the two have grown closer, but their relationship remains a complicated one. * Eliot Spencer (Christian Kane): The team's retrieval specialist with a marked distaste for guns, Eliot is often charged with protecting the team from physical threats during their cons. He is adept at hand-to-hand combat, and has a wide range of martial arts and weapons skills, although he uses them only when under attack. Eliot is deceptive: often viewed simply as the team's hitter, he has a range of sophisticated interpersonal skills he can draw on when he must recover a person or object. He is the team's pragmatist, with a dark past he is reluctant to discuss. * Parker (Beth Riesgraf): * Alec Hardison (Aldis Hodge): Recurring characters * James Sterling (Mark A. Sheppard): Nate's rival insurance investigator, now an Interpol agent with a habit of appearing when least expected. Sterling both admires Nate and is doggedly determined to bring him to justice, which results in his occasional collaboration with the team. * Maggie Collins (Kari Matchett): Nate's ex-wife, and occasional collaborator in the team's cons. A free-lance art appraiser, Maggie has begun to slowly rebuild her relationship with Nate into a new friendship. * Tara Cole (Jeri Ryan): A grifter friend of Sophie's who she calls on to help the team while she takes a journey of personal discovery in Season 2. Plot by Season Season One Season Two Season Three Season Four Production Following production of the pilot in Chicago, Season 1 of Leverage was set and filmed in Los Angeles, at Glendale Studios. The team's fictional headquarters were on the top floor of an office building in downtown Los Angeles; exteriors of the Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel, Pacific Electric Building and adjoining buildings are used as various views of the Leverage Consulting and Associates headquarters. Much of the location shooting was done in and around Pasadena, CA, including the campus of Ambassador College, which featured in the First and Second David Jobs. Beginning with Season 2, the team moves its base to Boston, and production moved to Portland, OR. New permanent sets, including the John McRory's Pub (named for the Irish version of creator John Rogers' family name) were constructed in Clackamas, a suburb of Portland. Locations shooting features downtown and suburban Portland, as well as Vancouver, WA. Reception Viewership * Leverage averaged 3.9 million viewers for Season 1, 4.1 million for Season 2 and 4.5 million for Season 3 (figures are live + seven-day, including time shifted viewing). The premiere of Season 4 drew 3.42 million viewers (live + same day), up 10% from the Season 3 premiere. Awards Leverage has been nominated twice for a Saturn Award as Best Syndicated/Cable Television Series (2009 and 2010). Fan Conventions * In March 2010 the show sponsored an official Leverage fan event, the Con-Con, held at the Governor Hotel. It is the only TNT show to have its own convention. A second Con-Con was planned for June, 2011, but was canceled following poor ticket sales. A small group of fans "stole" Con-Con, and will be held the more informal Fan-Con in its place, which included a set tour, screening of episode 401 and a series of social evants. * In 2010, the cast appeared at San Diegos's Comic-Con, and hosted a panel. http://ifmagazine.com/new.asp?article=10052